The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has disputed the claims of Boxing Federation of India (BFI) regarding issues related to the hosting of the 2021 World boxing championships.

“In 2017, the tournament was awarded to India, and a host city agreement was signed in January 2019. As per this agreement, half of the host fees were due and payable on 1 December 2019. As New Delhi did not fulfill its obligations to pay the host fee as mentioned in the host city agreement, despite numerous reminders by AIBA and after having been offered multiple options to settle their obligations, AIBA had no choice but to terminate the contract in April 2020,” said an AIBA statement.

AIBA said its decision to award the host city rights to Belgrade was “also prompted by the fact that almost two-third of the host fees due by BFI for having hosted the 2018 AIBA World Women’s Boxing Championships remains outstanding to date, more than 18 months after the event.

“This host fees should have been paid by BFI in summer 2018. AIBA showed a lot of patience and comprehension, agreeing on numerous successive repayment plans, which were never respected by BFI.”

AIBA also rejected BFI claims related to banks. “AIBA also disputes the reasons given by BFI for not paying their dues. Since June 2019, Serbia is no longer on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force; BFI managed to make some payments to AIBA in the course of winter 2020.

“In the current situation, AIBA cannot take the risk to suffer further losses caused by BFI’s failure to comply with its obligations,” said the statement.

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